


Tea (and Truth) Time

by Cinder



Category: Charmed (TV 2018)
Genre: i made Maggie the narrator and it was a lot of fun to write, i wanna write more from her perspective, some light Harry/Macy but for the most part it's a family fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-08 05:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18888388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinder/pseuds/Cinder
Summary: Being a Charmed One complicates everything. Your love life, your career, your goal of throwing a special lunch for your Whitelighter, cause somehow the tea got spiked with truth potion...The Charmed Ones and Harry end up drinking truth potion, which makes them all a little more honest than they might want.*For the wonderful Gellsbells.





	Tea (and Truth) Time

In hindsight, Maggie thought, this was all Macy’s fault. After all, she was the one who had suggested the surprise lunch.

A tea lunch, set just a few hours before Harry had to face the Elders, and answer for his relationship with Charity. It would give him a distraction and keep him – and them – from worrying too much. Nobody fully knew what was going to happen to their Whitelighter. Not even Harry, who had seen Whitelighters come and go and face the judgement of the Elders, knew what the outcome would be. Never, in his many years of acting as a Whitelighter, had there been someone who had gone on trial for having an affair with an Elder – and have that Elder then be revealed to be a psycho murderess. 

The only advantages Harry had was that he was loyal to the Veras, and hadn’t known the truth. Once everything had been revealed, he had immediately taken his witches’ side. Still, it wasn’t much of a defense, especially to people as strict as the Elders. 

So Macy had suggested a special, surprise lunch with tea, and her sisters had quickly agreed. Macy would make the food, Mel would distract Harry until lunch was ready, and Maggie would make the tea. 

What followed next was absolutely, 100%, not at all her fault. 

Because, since he had been pretty much living in their house for the last couple months, Harry had been solely in charge of making the tea. It was one of those comforting habits – it was clear he loved being in charge of everything tea-related, and it was one less thing Maggie had to do in the morning, so who cared? 

Except for on the day of the lunch, when she was staring at ten different types of tea, trying to figure out which would be best. 

“Mint’s always nice,” Macy suggested, dusting her hands off and sending clouds of powered sugar into the air. “And Earl Gray is a classic.”

“Earl Gray isn’t a party tea!” Maggie said. 

“Well, you’ve got to pick fast, because the food’s done and Mel’s pretty much at her limit with distracting Harry.”

“What’s she doing?”

“She asked him about some really obscure types of magic, and he’s been entertaining her with how a suffix inflection can change the whole type of a spell for the past 40 minutes. She’s about ready to fall asleep or blow a hole in the wall to escape.” 

“Fine,” Maggie said. “Give me just one minute.” She pushed around the boxes, hoping to find something wonderful and calming, and would make all their problems go away for just a few minutes. Then she saw the little golden box glinting at the back of the shelf. She grabbed it and looked inside – just normal tea. The box wasn’t labeled, so she couldn’t tell what type it was, but when she sniffed it, she felt her whole body relax and a smile involuntarily jump to her face. 

This was it. 

(See? Totally not her fault. After all, the box was on the tea shelf, with the rest of the boxes of tea. How was she supposed to know not to touch it?) 

When she entered the dining room with the tea pot, Macy was just putting the last of the food on the table. She had gone all out – it looked like – small sandwiches and delicate little pastries covered nearly every section of the table. It looked like a menu you’d find in any tea room – except for the fact that Macy, in her nerves, had made a lot of everything, and the spread on the table could have fed 10 people at minimum.

“We’re going to be having leftovers for a while,” Maggie observed, placing the teapot down on the one area of the table that wasn’t covered with food. 

“I wanted to give Harry a good meal before he left to get integrated by the Elders,” Macy said defensively. 

“What’s this?” 

Maggie and Macy turned to see Harry in the entrance to the dining room, Mel standing proudly behind him, beaming. 

“We decided to have a special lunch before you left!” Maggie said. 

“Since you’ll be gone for a few days, we thought we’d give you a good send-off,” Macy said, raising her hand. The teapot floated up through the air, pouring tea into the cups situated around the table. 

“This is –“ Harry looked at the Veras. He gave them a misty smile, and Maggie smiled back, pleased that he seemed to like the surprise. Still, she couldn’t help but have her stomach twist as Harry blinked heavily. He seemed very touched for someone that was supposedly only going away for a few days…

But she pushed the feelings away as they all sat down at the table. She needed to keep a brave face on, for Harry’s sake. He was the one who would be facing the Elders – he could at least go to them knowing that the Veras would be okay while he was gone. 

Maggie loaded her plate as Macy telekinetically passed the dishes around. Everything was wonderful, and she found herself relaxing slightly, although she could tell there was still tension in the air. Everyone was trying to put on a happy face, but they were all nervous.

Harry took a sip of the tea, closing his eyes. “Very good.” 

“Thank you!” Maggie beamed. For a few minutes there was a comfortable silence as they sipped tea and dug into Macy’s food. 

Macy sipped her own tea as well. “This is great,” she said. “Where type of tea did you get?” 

“From that golden box in the back of the pantry –“ 

Macy dropped her tea cup with a crash. Everyone stared at her, stunned. Harry’s hand was automatically raising the cup to his lips, and Macy’s hand shot out.

“Don’t drink that!”

The cup zoomed out of Harry’s hand and into Macy’s, where she put it down on the table.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Maggie asked. “Did I – Is it poison?” It was the only thing her panicked mind could come up with. 

“No,” Macy said. 

Maggie relaxed.

“it’s truth potion.” 

And then got panicked all over again.

“WHAT?!”

“Oh dear,” Harry muttered, glancing around the table. Mel was looking down at her half-empty cup with an expression of horror.

“The truth potion that we tried to give to Harry?” Mel asked. “Back with the imposter demon? But that was months ago – I thought we got rid of the rest of it!”

Macy shook her head. “I saved it, in case we needed it against a demon. But I never –“ she looked at Maggie, who suddenly felt guilty. “Where did you get this?”

“In the cupboard with the rest of the tea!” Maggie said. 

Macy frowned. “I didn’t put it there,” she said.

“Well that’s where I found it.”

“No, I swear I put it in the attic! I – I didn’t want to put it with the rest of the tea, just in case we accidentally thought it was regular tea –“

“And drank it,” Mel finished.

“Then how’d it get down here?” Maggie asked, now more curious than panicked. 

The Veras looked at Harry, who shook his head, his brow furrowed. “Maybe an enemy moved it, seeking to divide us by having us learn each other’s truths, or the house’s magical energies moved it for some unknown reason or –“ He sighed. “Who knows? Magic is weird.” 

The Veras stared at him. 

“Well, I guess the potion is kicking in,” he said. 

Maggie nodded. She could feel the need to speak, to open her mouth and shout, rising up in her. 

“Will the Elders be able to suspect that someone’s taken a truth potion?” Mel asked.

Macy looked horrified. “Harry, you can’t meet with the Elders like this. We’ve got to create a distraction and postpone the meeting.”

“Let’s blow up the house!” Maggie said, slamming her hands on the table.

Everyone looked at her.

“Sorry, truth potion means no filter on stupid ideas.” 

“We might not have anything to worry about,” Harry said. “I only took a few sips of the tea. There’s three hours before I meet with the Elders. The potion should have run its course by then.” 

“Good,” Mel sighed, relaxing. “Because if anything happens to you because of the Elders, I am going to kick their asses.” 

“Me too!” Maggie said. 

“I mean, I’d probably try to negotiate with them so we don’t go to war with an insanely powerful governing body without a plan, but if they wouldn’t cooperate, then yeah, I’d fight them,” Macy said. 

Harry looked horrified. “Absolutely not,” he said. “I don’t want you three trying to fight the Elders.” He turned to Macy. “Or trying to talk to them. In fact, I don’t want you even one hundred feet within the Elders. They’re too dangerous.” At the last comment, his eyes widened, and his face flushed. 

The Veras looked at him with wide eyes. Mel’s mouth had dropped open.

“Did you – Harry Greenwood, Elder defender extraordinaire – just say that the Elders were dangerous?” 

Harry struggled for a moment, then finally admitted: “Yes”. 

“Harry, you convinced me to go to them for help with my demon side!” Macy said. 

“Well, that was before the whole Charity fiasco,” Harry said. “I had some doubts after Mel told me that they wanted to leave me in Tartarus, but I trusted Charity to do the right thing…rather stupidly.”. 

Macy softened. “Harry, that wasn’t your fault.”

“Isn’t it?” Harry said, not looking at them anymore, but instead fiddling with his tea cup.

“She manipulated you,” Mel said. “She used you just like she used the rest of us. Well, I mean…not with sex but…” She suddenly became very interested in the wallpaper, while Macy scowled. 

“She didn’t deserve you,” Macy said. 

Harry finally looked up from his teacup, his eyebrows raised. “Excuse me?”

“This is like a freaking soap opera,” Maggie said, shoveling scones in her mouth. 

“She lied to you and manipulated you and wasn’t willing to fully stand up for you against the Elders,” Macy said. “You deserve better than that, Harry. You deserve a relationship with trust and love and…someone who really cares about you –“ Her face was getting redder and redder, clearly wishing she could fight against the truth potion.

Before Macy could get any further, Maggie jumped in, voice overly loud, desperate to save her sister. She knew what Macy was dangerously close to saying – something she clearly wasn’t ready to admit, maybe not even to herself, but was being forced to say due to the potion. And as much as she loved all the truth telling and drama, Maggie didn’t want it to be at the expense of her sister’s feelings and boundaries. “LIKE US, WE’RE YOUR FAMILY AND LOVE AND RESPECT YOU. I MEAN, I KNOW MACY WAS TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING DIFFERENT BUT I THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW YOUR FAMILY LOVES YOU AND WELL…YOU GET THE PICTURE.”

Mel had gotten in on the act too, and was loudly picking up used plates to stack them together, making as much noise as possible. 

Harry blinked, looking stunned at the suddenly screaming Maggie. “Thank you?” he said cautiously. “I feel the same way, and it’s very sweet, but why are you yelling?”

“BECAUSE TRUTH POTIONS ARE THE WORST AND I HATE THEM.” Technically it was the truth. 

“Agreed,” Macy said, her head now on the table, looking tired. If she had whispered something while Maggie was screaming and Mel clattering around with tableware, it was clear no one had heard. 

Harry gave them a gentle smile. “if you’d like to go to a private place to preserve your truths, that’s quite fine.”

Macy raised her head, looking horrified. “This was supposed to be a nice lunch to get your mind off the whole Elder/Charity drama.” She slumped back in her chair. “And now our house or a demon or something ruined it.” 

Maggie looked down at her plate, biting her lip. “Sorry,” she muttered.

Macy’s eyes widened. “No! Maggie, honey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean you,” she said. “You couldn’t know.” 

“I just feel dumb, like I should have been able to see what it was.” 

“You thinking you’re dumb is a dumb thing to say.” Mel frowned. “Wait – what I meant was –“ 

“She means the only dumb thing you’ve done is assume you aren’t intelligent,” Harry said, giving her a gentle smile. Maggie gave him a small smile back. “You possess the most emotional intelligence out of all of us,” he continued. “If it hadn’t been for you, and your ability to understand and empathize with others, demons would already have overtaken us.”

“Makes me jealous,” Macy said, smiling too. “I’ve always had a hard time warming up to people, getting them to understand me, and you make it so easy.”

“Well I can’t do all the science stuff that you do –“ Maggie said.

“We shouldn’t leave Mel out. Her persistence to truth and justice has saved us many times over –“ Harry interjected. 

“You’re making me sound like Superman. Although yes, I am a badass,” Mel said. Then she looked down at her plate, crumbling a tiny cake between her fingers. “Although sometimes I wish I could bond with some people easier.” Then she looked up in alarm. “I mean –“

“You mean me,” Macy said. 

Mel looked around, not exactly looking comfortable with the conversation, before deciding the best way to remove herself was by shoving four cucumber sandwiches into her mouth at once. As she chewed, looking everywhere but at Macy, Macy continued. 

“I’m not always easy to bond with either –“ she said. 

Mel shook her head ‘no’, looking upset. She hadn’t wanted to continue the discussion, but she also hadn’t wanted Macy to blame herself either. 

Macy shrugged. “I’ve been alone for most of my life,” she said. “I’m friendly, but opening up…really opening up…is still new for me.” She looked down at her teacup. “And I probably didn’t make it any easier by being the reason all this big news about Mom has been dropped into your lives – you have a secret sister, you have magical powers, Maggie and I share the same father –“

Mel finally swallowed her food, still looking everywhere but at Macy. “It’s not your fault – you’re trying your best. I just…feel a little alone sometimes,” she said. 

There was a second of silence, and then the sound of crashing dishes as Maggie threw herself over to Mel and hugged her. “WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH.”

“Please stop yelling,” Mel asked in a strained voice, although whether it was from Maggie nearly deafening her or from Maggie nearly crushing her ribs, nobody could be sure. 

“Sorry,” Maggie said. “Started the yelling thing with Harry and decided to continue it.”

“We do love you though,” Macy said, smiling gently at Mel. “And I never wanted to make you feel like you were alone.” She reached across the table and took Mel’s hand. “Because you’re not.” 

Mel bit her lip, blinking heavily. “Thanks,” she whispered. 

Harry smiled at them, saying, so quietly, they almost didn’t hear it, “I’m going to miss this.”

“You’ll be back in a few days,” Macy said. The truth potion made her add, “Hopefully.” 

“Hopefully,” Harry said. “But probably not.” 

The Veras all their heads to him so fast it was scary.

“What?” Mel said.

Harry clearly didn’t want to say anything, delaying for several moments, his face growing more and more tense as he fought against the truth potion. Finally, he admitted: “I’ve known the Elders to be harsh judges. And I’ve committed too many sins to warrant a merciful verdict.” 

“They can’t –“ Macy’s voice was trembling now. “All you did was care about Charity. You weren’t trying to hurt anyone or commit any crimes or –“

“I broke the rules.”

“Well it’s a stupid rule!” Macy sprang to her feet, shocking Maggie. Out of everyone, she would have predicted a reaction like this from her or Mel. Macy normally tried to put on a calm face and think of a solution. 

“Nevertheless –“

“No, there’s no excuse for holding you responsible for Charity’s actions! And for punishing you because you wanted a relationship!” Maggie, wide-eyed, saw that Macy was making the dishes levitate off the table. She was so agitated that she didn’t realize what she was doing. 

“Mace –“ Mel tried to say, but it was Harry who calmed Macy down. He got to his feet, taking her hands in his own. 

“I understand, but we can’t worry about it now,” Harry said. “Whatever comes after the verdict, we’ll handle it.”

“Together,” Mel said. 

Macy bit her lip. “What if – what if they toss you into Tartarus or –“

Harry shuddered, his calm demeanor broken by the thought of going back into that hellhole. Even at the mention of it, Maggie moved closer to Mel’s side, ice in her veins.

“I don’t think my punishment will be as severe as that –“ he said. “If they had wanted to sentence me to an eternity in Tartarus, then they would have done so when Charity was sentenced. The fact that I’m still here is a somewhat hopeful sign that maybe the Elders will show some mercy –“ 

Mel snorted. 

“And what if they don’t show mercy?” Macy asked. “Harry, what if they lock you up in some cell or curse you or –“

“Then we’ll find him,” Mel said. Harry turned to her, eyebrows raised. She looked steadily back at him. “Doesn’t matter how long it takes, how much magic we have to use or –“ she grimaced, “how many Elders we have to go through.” 

Maggie nodded her agreement. “You’re family,” she said.

“And you’re coming back to us,” Mel finished. 

Harry let out a shaky breath, sitting back down in his chair as though this was all too much for him. When he spoke, it was in a strained voice. “Thank you.” 

Macy knelt down to hug him. Maggie and Mel mimicked her.

The four of them stayed that way for a long time. 

*

The Veras’ kitchen stood empty. Nothing moved, everything was still in the late night. The teapot and dishes were in the sink, a single lightbulb gently burned, and coffee cups had been set out for easy access for the morning, when caffeine would be needed. 

Suddenly, a bright green flash illuminated the kitchen, and the dishes in the sink trembled, making a soft ringing sound. A second later, the flash was gone, and in its place stood a woman, her blonde ringlets flowing past her shoulders, her dark dress showing how pale her face was. 

She walked over to the sink and picked up a teacup, sniffing it. Yes, they had definitely drank the potion. Unfortunate that it hadn’t had the effect she had hoped it would. For a second, her hands tightened around the teacup, resisting the urge to smash it into the sink. She wasn’t afraid that it would awaken the house’s occupants, she could deal with them easily. But, if Harry persisted in still coming back to them, despite the revelations of all their secrets, then she might as well get some fun out of it. It was almost better this way. True, now she’d have to concoct some story to pry Harry away from the girls, rather than simply grab him after his meeting with the Elders, but she’d also get to watch the delicious horror on Harry’s face as she killed his new favorites. He’d probably beg and pled for their lives, too…that would be fun. 

Fiona sighed, walking back to the center of the kitchen and moved her hands through the air, a new portal opening at her command. She turned to give the Vera kitchen one last look, green light illuminating her face, and then stepped through the portal. 

The portal vanished the instant she was gone, and the Veras’ kitchen was quiet and still again.


End file.
